Transformer Breath

I'm not sure if this has been discussed, so forgive me if it has. But I've seen the movie twice now and both times, there were a couple of moments that struck me as odd and kinda took me out of the film for a minute. At least twice, the Transformers were in locations that were apparently cold, and when they spoke, you could see their breath. (An image of Ironhide talking stands out in my head.)
I'm sure there's a very reasonable explaination for why they might 'breath' when they talk (exhaust, etc.) but I thought this was an odd detail to throw into the movie. Several scenes show the synthesized lights in their mouths as if their voices were produced completely electronically. It's not like they have vocal chords. So why add breath clouds?
It seemed like they were trying too hard with the special effects there and it didn't really fit with the robot characters.
Anyway, just something that has been stuck in my head since seeing the movie.

Thank you sir. I know you're new, but thank you for saying it. Machines let out fumes, exhaust, etc etc. Transformers are machines that have to pump their heat/exhaust from somewhere, why not exude it from the same place their humanoid bodies feel natural doing it?

Cut the tube that leads from your cooling system to your engine and the car will choke too. The mechanics of the "REAL" Transformer haven't been explored the way nerds explore the real workings of the Enterprise, but I would imagine that they do have a vocal system that works from the area around their necks, and the air they take in cools their system and keeps it running. Imagine your Xbox 360 running without a cooling fan. Now imagine Starscream as being a huge Xbox360 and someone cutting that air flow. A 360 processes high-end graphics, but a robot like Starscream processes a billion things at once. Cut that air flow, and everything from speech processes to vision and reaction slows. Squeeze his neck enough and Starscream will overheat and get a Red Ring of Death.

Why do they even need to talk to eachother? Why can't they just speak by direct radio contact or something. That would be a lot faster and they could transmit images and more information that just words. Why'd they speak english to eachother?

This is one aspect of the movie I have thought about thinking "that's weird." Robot's expelling air in some form I can get, internal combustion and so-forth. And if the air was cold, and thier "breath" was hot when they talked, then you would see it.

What I don't get is the the fact that they're on Mars. Or rather a wrecked ship on Mars. I guess if you wanted to stretch you could say there could be atmosphere in the ship, maybe just for talking, but it's wrecked, and full of holes. No air. And there's no sound in a vaccum, either.

But I guess that, and the fact that they talk at all, is for the sake of cinema. Like how there's so much noise in space in star wars I guess. But the breathing part still gets me thinking about the physics of a movie with giant alien robots turning into cars and starring Shia Labouf.

At first glance, it's one of those things you don't really think about, it's just a movie, but I don't know why it gets me thinking.

This is one aspect of the movie I have thought about thinking "that's weird." Robot's expelling air in some form I can get, internal combustion and so-forth. And if the air was cold, and thier "breath" was hot when they talked, then you would see it.

What I don't get is the the fact that they're on Mars. Or rather a wrecked ship on Mars. I guess if you wanted to stretch you could say there could be atmosphere in the ship, maybe just for talking, but it's wrecked, and full of holes. No air. And there's no sound in a vaccum, either.

But I guess that, and the fact that they talk at all, is for the sake of cinema. Like how there's so much noise in space in star wars I guess. But the breathing part still gets me thinking about the physics of a movie with giant alien robots turning into cars and starring Shia Labouf.

At first glance, it's one of those things you don't really think about, it's just a movie, but I don't know why it gets me thinking.

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I take it you're referring to the prequel comics of the first film (possibly second? don't have those), yes?

For the record, Mars' atmosphere, well what's left of it after whatever cataclysm decimated the planet forever, does indeed have air, but its mainly carbon dioxide rich, and very thin.

Why do they even need to talk to eachother? Why can't they just speak by direct radio contact or something. That would be a lot faster and they could transmit images and more information that just words. Why'd they speak english to eachother?

Why do they even need to talk to eachother? Why can't they just speak by direct radio contact or something. That would be a lot faster and they could transmit images and more information that just words. Why'd they speak english to eachother?

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The Autobots do it cause there are usually humans around, sam, ect..., the Decepticons have often spoken in Cybertronian (which is how it should be) but for the sake of the flow of the movie they make them speak english. I agree Megatron and the other baddies should not stoop so low as to speak our language, one of my least favorite parts of the 1st movie was when Megs starts spouting off to Prime and Sam in english. But I don't mind subtitles, most viewers do though.

I agree,while it would make sense they talked in their alien language(when humans are not present), I think it would be as great to watch if the audience depend on subtitles to understand what their saying.

I guess, since Transformers are considered to be autonomous robotic organisms, they have parts similiar to all machines. However, since they are machines but are sentinent aliens in their perspective, then I'm sure they may have parts that may have the same function as vehicles and other machines, like a CPU to function as the brain and joints in their systems to act as shock absorbers.

As to how they may breathe, it's pretty simple. Think of our breathing technique. We breathe to get oxygen into our bodies and to cool ourselves down, like sweating from the outside. The Transformers probably have a cooling system or oxygen tanks that allows them to breathe in a similiar manner to humans, acting as lungs, when they're exhausted from straining themselves or when they are pushed to their limits.

In other words, I think it was pretty obvious when Ironhide breathed after transforming. It was probably exhausting for him since he's the oldest out of the group. Transforming can put a strain on them because it takes a lot of thinking to place something where. Doesn't that make much sense when they're transformations can be different sometimes?

Ok, I'm rambling, I just know I am. I'm just using parts of what all machines may use. I'm thinking of vehicles, so anything is a possibility. I'm letting my imagination wander here. I think I'll save the rest for stories and whatnot...

I figured with the talking, they don't really give a damn how they talk, just so long as they can communicate fine. 'Cons included, like on the Nemesis.

EDIT: Though I'm wondering if Jetfire or the other Seekers could speak our languages before he went into stasis, since there was no wi-fi internet to connect to back then; well, at least, if there was, it wouldn't be on our level today. (I'm ignorant to the history of the internet, save for it being a series of tubes.) Maybe he could listen in on the radio or something, I don't know.